February 18, 2024- Written by Nick Ringger
God’s faithfulness prompts us to set our hearts in order before Him.
Reading for today is Genesis 9:8 Then God said to Noah and his sons with him, 9 “Understand that I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you—birds, livestock, and all wildlife of the earth that are with you—all the animals of the earth that came out of the ark. 11 I establish my covenant with you that never again will every creature be wiped out by floodwaters; there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations: 13 I have placed my bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all the living creatures: water will never again become a flood to destroy every creature. 16 The bow will be in the clouds, and I will look at it and remember the permanent covenant between God and all the living creatures on earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and every creature on earth.”
We can observe God’s faithfulness in several ways in this passage. First, we see the result of His faithfulness as He flooded the earth exactly as He promised. Then we see His faithfulness in delivering Noah and his family, and all of the animals through the devastating flood. Next, we see God giving all generations a sign of His promise to never flood the earth again, the rainbow. And as we reflect upon the faithfulness of God, we are compelled to prepare our hearts once again to consider the sacrifice of our Lord, as He inaugurated the New Covenant, of which he is eternally faithful.
We rejoice in His unfailing faithfulness to us, and recommit ourselves to carefully setting our heart and lives in order.
Our Heavenly Father, as we consider the Passion of Your Son, help me to not love a world that crucified Him, neither cherish or endure the sin that put Him to grief, nor suffer Him to be wounded by others. Amen. (Adapted from Valley of Vision)
